


Invasion Of The Clouds

by Shadow_Side



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 07:02:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1129729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Side/pseuds/Shadow_Side
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The clouds are up to something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Invasion Of The Clouds

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is entirely the result of me spending too much time staring out of the window at work and then emailing Davechicken about the different clouds I could see passing overhead.
> 
> Yes, really. I have turned procrastination into a fine art.

It's afternoon in Mission Grove Park.

Well, to be fair, it's afternoon in all of Night Vale. Allegedly. It's also Saturday, which means rather than being in the radio station, Cecil is currently lying on a grassy bank in Mission Grove Park, hands behind his head, staring up at the sky.

Carlos is with him, lying at his side and also staring upwards. They were talking before but they've been quiet for a little while, though it's that easy, comfortable kind of quiet which comes from being around someone to whom you do not have to say anything in order to be understood.

Clouds are passing overhead. There's a reasonable breeze today, which means the view is ever-changing; the few clouds sliding by on their way to wherever it is clouds go.

Hopefully not Desert Bluffs. These clouds are far too nice for Desert Bluffs.

Eventually, a slightly larger cloud starts to slide past. It isn't the Glow Cloud. None of these clouds are the Glow Cloud, and that's a good thing because afternoons that end up being interrupted by the Glow Cloud tend to be a little… fraught. But no, these clouds are just that… just clouds.

Or whatever clouds are. The City Council doesn't like people talking about them too much, though Cecil isn't sure why. _Steve Carlsberg_ says it's because they can control the weather and are using it to slowly introduce mind-altering hallucinogens to the population, but _everyone_ knows this has been going on across the entire US since the 1960s, so what does _that_ guy know anyway?

Carlos always says clouds are just clouds and he can't work out why the City Council – or anyone else for that matter – would be so weird about them, and then sometimes he trails off into wondering just what is going on that he doesn't know about and are they all actually in terrible danger that he can't quite see or predict, and… it's all really very adorable.

The slightly larger cloud continues its progress across the deep-blue sky.

"I like that one," Cecil remarks, gesturing up at it. "It's a good shape. How a cloud should look."

"It is," Carlos agrees. "Sort of… the ideal form of a cloud. Or something." He laughs a little, in a self-aware sort of way. "Oh, we must be getting old if we're picking out clouds we like. Not ones that are weird or interesting shapes, just… cloud-shaped clouds."

Cecil laughs too. "I would say so." He pauses, contemplating the cloud for another moment. "It is a good cloud, though," he adds, glancing sideways with a grin.

"It is," Carlos says again.

"I wonder where it's going…"

"Well," Carlos replies, "given the air currents in the desert and the direction of the prevailing winds, coupled with the apparent velocity and dispersal rate, I would say it's most likely…"

He stops and turns to look at Cecil again, getting another warmly amused grin in return.

"…You weren't after a literal answer, were you?" he queries.

"No," Cecil tells him, "but that's all right. You know I love it when you go all scientific on me."

"And you know _I_ love it when you go all poetic on _me_ ," Carlos points out, now grinning too.

"You really do," Cecil agrees, rolling onto his side so that he can curl in close to Carlos, looking down at him. "Like when I tell you all those clouds drifting past could whisper _such_ stories, if only they could speak. Even though their lives are so short, so fleeting, they see so much from up there, watching the great tableau of the world roll ever onwards even as, if only for a second, the world in return watches them roll by…"

Carlos' breath catches in delight. "Stop talking and kiss me," he manages.

Cecil obliges all too happily, pressing in close to kiss the other man and loving the way Carlos just melts into the contact. He doesn't stop until the need for oxygen starts to make it unavoidable, breaking the kiss with a breathy little gasp and smiling down at his boyfriend. He's just about to move in for a second round when Carlos' eyes flick to the sky beyond and he taps Cecil's arm.

"Oh," he whispers. "Look at that…"

Intrigued, Cecil rolls onto his back again, and at once he sees what Carlos is talking about. The large, delightfully cloudlike cloud has moved on, but in its wake there are now dozens of smaller clouds dotting the sky.

"Wow, they moved in fast," Cecil remarks. "Very fast. Almost like they're up to something…"

"Maybe they are," Carlos replies, tone level. "Maybe that big cloud was the vanguard of an invading cloud army, and now all the foot-soldiers… uh, cloud-soldiers… have arrived."

This sounds worryingly plausible. Cecil looks sideways at his boyfriend. "Does that happen often?" he asks.

Overhead, more and more of the little clouds are moving in, and something about them is indeed very menacing. What are they doing? Are they watching everyone?

"More often than you would expect," Carlos tells him. "First you just think they're little, innocent clouds, and before you know it… invasion! Invasion of the clouds."

Now Cecil rolls onto his side again, moving in closer; partly because he likes being close to Carlos, and partly so that there's less chance of the clouds hearing what he says next. "Do you think we should warn people?"

Carlos manages several very sensible-faced nods before he loses it completely and collapses into giggles.

Cecil starts to catch on. "…You made all that up!" he accuses.

"You really are _completely adorable_ when you take every word seriously," Carlos says, putting a hand on the side of Cecil's face and pulling him in closer.

"I have to take it seriously!" Cecil insists. "You're a scientist! You know things the rest of us can't hope to fathom!"

"Like how the _clouds_ are planning to invade?"

"Yes!"

Carlos takes a deep breath and attempts his very best Sensible Scientist Face. "Cecil. The clouds are not planning to invade."

"Honestly?"

"Honestly. Scientists' honour. Or something."

Cecil gives him another suspicious look, but he's soon smiling too, pressing in to kiss his boyfriend again. "Maybe I ought to take you back to your lab before you end up any worse," he suggests. "You've been outdoors long enough. I know how you scientists get when you have too much fresh air."

Carlos grins back at him. "Maybe you should. Although… five more minutes? It's so lovely here."

"…Aren't you always saying time doesn't work in Night Vale?"

"It doesn't," Carlos replies, eyes sparkling. "So it could be a _long_ five minutes…"

"Yes," Cecil agrees. "I imagine it could be…" And, with a matching sparkle in his own eyes, he presses in to kiss his boyfriend again.

And overhead, in the azure sky, the clouds watch… and bide their time.

No one will ever suspect a thing…


End file.
